This position results in physiological changes that also occur in astronauts during space flight. The study will assess the roles of nutrition and combined physical exercise in countering the adverse effects of prolonged gravitational unloading by bed-rest. The first volunteers arrived at the MEDES Space Clinic in Toulouse on 22 February for the start of the collection of physiological data, which will serve as the baseline data throughout the whole study. This preliminary period lasted 20 days, after which the first two volunteers went to bed; the last two, who arrived on 27 February, did so on 19 March.
More than 1600 women responded to the ESA call for candidates, which closed in January. As planned, twelve women were selected for this first campaign. They come from France, Great Britain, Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Poland, and the Czech Republic, so that the WISE study also attracted great interest in the new member countries of the European Union.
This study is a joint venture between the European Space Agency (ESA), the French space agency (CNES), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It is being carried out by MEDES, the French Institute for Space Medicine and Physiology, in the clinical research facility at the Rangueil hospital in Toulouse, France.
WISE needs 24 female volunteers altogether, who will remain in bed for a total duration of 60 days. The test subjects will be divided into three groups of eight. One will be the control group, receiving no extra stimulus over the course of the bed-rest period. The second group will undertake an exercise progr
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Contact: Dieter Isakeit
Dieter.Isakeit@esa.int
31-71-565-5451
European Space Agency
21-Mar-2005